Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the cost to the public purse of hotels used to house asylum seekers from January to May 2023.

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered. The global pandemic and an increased influx of small boat arrivals has presented us with significant challenges when it comes to the provision of asylum accommodation. We have therefore had to source hotel accommodation across the United Kingdom.

Costs are subject to change depending on numbers being accommodated within the asylum system. The Home Office is currently spending around £7m per day on hotel accommodation. Total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)